Grants in 26 counties will create opportunities for healthier children and families across Pennsylvania.
HARRISBURG, Pa. -– USDA Secretary Russell Redding has announced $462,607 in PA Farm Bill Farm-to-School Grants to 45 schools, school districts, and childcare centers in 26 counties.
Grants of up to $15,000 will fund projects to improve access to healthy, local food and increase hands-on learning for pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade children.
“Farm-to-School grants are an investment not just in feeding hungry minds, but feeding our future,” Redding said. “Introducing children to fresh, local food can change their diets and open their eyes to career possibilities when they learn how food is produced and who produces it. The Shapiro administration is making critical investments to feed the future of our communities and expand opportunities for children to succeed and Pennsylvania farms to prosper.”
Funded projects connect local farmers to schools to supply fresh, in-season products to be served in cafeterias, expanding market opportunities for farmers. Other projects support school gardens, field trips, and other hands-on agriculture education, enriching early career awareness.
Grant recipients, amounts, and funded projects for Philadelphia and vicinity:
Bucks
Lifespan Day Care – $14,975
LifeSpan’s Learning Garden: Project goal is a community children’s garden and program with senior “grand friends” living in an assisted living facility next door.
Chester
Great Valley School District – $15,000
The district plans to purchase local, seasonal produce, yogurt, beef, and other products. In partnership with The Common Market, local products from Pequea Valley Farm, Frecon Farms, Happy Valley Meat, and other farms will be served in cafeterias along with information on where food was sourced.
Montgomery
Colonial School District – $9,997
Project will expand beyond local produce to include local protein items such as local beef, chicken, and yogurt in school cafeteria menus. Project aims to minimize the district’s carbon footprint, reduce transportation emissions, and support regional agriculture.
Philadelphia
Early Literacy Academy – Fairmount – $10,000
Early Literacy Academy – Oxford – $10,000
Harvest Tasting Program in both locations will teach the benefits of healthy eating through farm-fresh produce and balanced diet lessons, and of integrating local fruit and vegetables into the school menu by including the Harvest of the Month featured product from the Common Market.
Methodist Services – $15,000
Re-energized Farm to School programming for preschool, Head Start, and kindergarten children and their families in nutrition, farming, fresh foods, and maintaining 16 Children’s Garden container beds.
New Foundations Charter School – $9,300
Service-learning courses using the school’s garden to educate and empower students, families the school’s community. The revitalized garden will equip our community with skills in sustainability and nutrition that are otherwise nearly inaccessible in this area.
Parent Infant Center – $5,646
Grant will fund Pennsylvania-grown, fresh seasonal produce and dairy products as preschool snacks, hands-on opportunities to experience urban agriculture in a new greenhouse, and a weekly gardening club during the summer.
William H. Loesche School – $2,833
Second Grade Class to Kitchen – Through firsthand experience of growing vegetables and herbs in the classroom, maintaining the crops, harvesting, and preparing them in a dish, students will connect with their food, and gain a deeper understanding of plant biology, and nutrition, while developing cooking skills.
Learn more about initiatives to grow and sustain Pennsylvania agriculture at: agriculture.pa.gov/pafarmbill.
Leave a Comment